48-hour Crazy Monkey Deal – Neckties for Interviews and Regular Office Wear

Discover 3 neckties that are perfect for interviews and regular office wear. There are altogether 50 such ties available for Crazy Monkey Deal #1, and they will be available for only 48 hours at just $55 – that is over $100 off the regular retail price! If you buy two or more ties they will be shipped free of charge. Thousands of WSO members will read this piece over the next couple of hours; when the 50 ties are gone they are gone.

Get yours here before they sell out.

I would like to share with you the story of my necktie blunder during my internship at the London office of a top US investment bank. It is my hope that some of you will benefit from my experience and that you will ensure that you wear to your interviews and internship ties that will help rather than hinder your employment prospects.

One of the first things I did when I received my first wage packet from my internship was to head down to London’s Jermyn Street, which is famous for its gentlemen’s clothing and accessories shops. I bought myself an iridescent, textured jacquard tie from DAX London that screamed quality and luxury. Coming from a modest background, this I thought would make me fit in with the more affluent people that surrounded me during my internship. It was a naive conclusion. In fact, one of the partners stared at my tie with a look of intense disapproval that, after having grown in maturity, I later fathomed.

There are two noteworthy points from the above experience. First, of course how an intern presents himself or herself matters, but to the people who admits someone to an internship programme it is a secondary consideration to whether they are cut out to succeed as a full-time employee in an organisation. In my case, that was whether I would succeed in the role of investment banker. Secondly, I hadn’t truly earned the money I had spent on my nice DAX tie. Let me explain why.

My internship programme cannot have been inexpensive to run, and I am assuming that the cost of running internships hasn’t got cheaper since my internship a decade ago. Some of the activities that my intern group enjoyed were a soccer match between Chelsea and Arsenal; a group dinner at a restaurant; and an outing at a cigar bar and a swanky night club – all at the bank’s expense.

Additionally, there was the opportunity cost of having experienced bankers spend time with interns for presentations and mentoring. When what is invested in an intern is compared with the value of their contribution, the former far exceeds the latter. And in that context, it is injudicious for an intern to appear to dress ostentatiously. Does this mean that an intern should only buy cheap, low or mediocre quality clothes or ties? No. They just shouldn’t be attention grabbing and flashy.

A tie for an interview or to wear to an internship should ideally be simple. You cannot go wrong with a solid navy, solid light blue or a navy tie with white stripes. They subliminally convey that the wearer is trustworthy, reliable and possess the ability to make sound judgements, qualities that many employers value, especially so in banking where significant responsibilities are given early on to analysts. Additionally, you can wear a solid navy tie a couple of times during the week and hardly anyone will notice, whereas if you regularly don your striking multi-patterned, jacquard tie you are likely to become that-guy-with-that-tie again.

By now you are probably wondering whether I got hired after my internship. The answer is no, and my flashy tie may well have played a small part in that. In truth, I do not think I would have succeeded as a banker. Some of us are not cut out to do certain jobs, and I do not think I am cut from the right cloth for a successful career in banking. Instead, much of my career has been spent in the non-profit sector, running an organisation that I founded that has made it easier for bright, non-privileged students to be equipped for entry to careers in banking and other high level professions through mentoring, university application support, skills workshops and internships like the one I had experienced.

I have since established an online menswear store, and as you may have gathered I have given more than a passing thought to suitable ties to wear to interviews, internships and on other occasions. I am therefore delighted to be able to collaborate with Wall Street Oasis to make available to its users a steep discount on these three neckties that I believe every man should own. Like all of the best made ties, they are sewn by hand, which means that they recover their shape after each wear more quickly than do machine-sewn ties, and they are made from high quality silk from the best Italian and English mills.

Your WSO Crazy Deal ties will be custom made, enabling you to order a tie that is made to fit you, regardless of your preference, whether it is for short, long, narrow or wide ties. There are some special vocabulary concerning the customisable options that you might find it helpful to know before you place an order.

• Number of folds: A tie is made from a large piece of cloth, which is folded upon itself repeatedly. The number of times the cloth is folded will determine how much weight and body a tie has. Three folds is standard for ready to wear ties (which is what is sold by nearly all tie retailers), but you may prefer your to tie to have 5 or 6 folds.
• Length and width: If you would like to find out what length and width suits you best this can be done by measuring a tie you already own and deciding by how much you would like the length or width of the tie you intend to order to differ (if at all).
• Interlining: Hidden behind the folds of a tie is an interlining fabric, often made from wool, which adds body to the tie. Ties labelled as ‘unlined’ also contain an interlining, albeit a much thinner one than do fully lined ties. Your custom tie can be ordered lined or unlined. If you decide to order a tie with five or more folds it is better to opt for an unlined tie, otherwise your lined five- or six-fold tie will be on the bulky side.
• Tipping: Tipping refers to the type of fabric found on the reverse side of the tips of the front and back blades of a tie. “Self-tipping” means that the reverse side is tipped with the same material as on the face to create two layers of fabric in the tip; “navy tipping” means the reverse side is tipped with a plain piece of navy silk; and “untipped” means there’s no fabric sewn at the back at all – the tip consists of single layer of fabric. Having a tipped or untipped tie is a matter of personal preference. Nearly all standard, ready to wear ties are tipped. However, there is no harm in trying an untipped tie to see how you feel about it. The difference, which will be a slightly lighter and more delicate feel, will generally only be noticeable to you the wearer.
• Loop/Keeper: This is the loop sewn across the back of a tie, where the back blade can be inserted to prevent it from moving about if you so wish.

Get yours here before they sell out.

The full start price of one of my custom made ties with standard options is £100 (~$160). The exclusive discount for visitors from WSO brings the start price down to ~$55, and orders of two or more ties will be shipped free of charge. As the ties are made to order delivery takes between two to five weeks. There are only 50 ties available as part of this offer so get yours now here before they get sold out.

By Linkson Jack
17 October 2013.